Pubdate: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC) Copyright: 2014 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/5NyOACet Website: http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531 MEDICAL POT PRODUCERS WIN LEGAL REPRIEVE People who grow medical marijuana at home won a reprieve Friday, but they still have to destroy most of their plants. A Federal Court judge ruled anyone already licensed to grow the drug may continue to do so beyond March 31, when new regulations governing production were to take effect. Judge Michael Manson issued an injunction exempting patients who are licensed to possess or grow medical marijuana under the current rules, either for themselves or someone else, from the new regulations that would have made the practice illegal. "I'm excited for patients - especially those who can't afford to buy it," said Don Schultz, a Kelowna consultant who works with growers applying for licences to build large, commercial operations in B.C. "It's our constitutional right to have the medicine." A group of patients behind a constitutional challenge asked for the injunction to preserve the status quo until their legal case goes to trial. The plaintiffs argued the updated regulations violate their right to access important medicine because marijuana is expected to be initially more expensive under the new system. They also complained they won't have as much control over which strains of the drug they use. The ruling caught many, including the Conservative government, by surprise. Health Canada reports 841 people in Kelowna alone have licences allowing them to grow enough pot at home for their own use. Another 181 are licensed to grow enough marijuana for themselves and up to four other people who prefer not to produce their own pot. Hundreds likely tore out their plants after Health Canada declared anyone growing their own as of April 1 would be breaking the law. "I know a lot of people who have the old licences who have already cut down their crops," said Schultz. "Now . . . they've been told they can keep on growing." Still, Friday's court decision affirms the limit for how much dried marijuana a licensee can possess at 150 grams, the amount set by the new regulations. A typical plant can produce more than twice that volume, so having more than one plant could be illegal, Schultz said. "They're still going to have to destroy quite a bit," Schultz said. "You can't be growing 10 plants out there." Health Canada predicted the price of medical marijuana to rise from $5 a gram to $8.80 a gram before enough commercial licensees produce the amount needed to replace the home-grown supply. Accordingly, patients will be "irreparably harmed" by the effects of the new regulations, the judge wrote. "I find that the nature of the irreparable harm that the applicants will suffer under the (updated regulations) constitutes a 'clear case,' which outweighs the public interest in wholly maintaining the enacted regulations." The injunction allows growers to sustain strains of pot that prove more effective than others. B.C. has high standards compared to the rest of the world, and other countries will want to buy B.C. bud, said Schultz. - --- MAP posted-by: Matt